Travel through time at Museum of Art and Archaeology

Sunday

More than 14,000 works of art and artifacts fill the Museum of Art and Archaeology’s permanent collection, with pieces dating to the ancient times of Rome, Greece and Egypt.

More than 14,000 works of art and artifacts fill the Museum of Art and Archaeology’s permanent collection, with pieces dating to the ancient times of Rome, Greece and Egypt.

Less than a third of the pieces are on display at any one time. Some are displayed year-round as part of the museum’s curriculum, while others are rotated as part of exhibitions or loaned out to other museums and exhibits.

Five millennia and six continents are represented throughout the galleries. Museum-goers can visually trace the detailed chariot race carved in white marble on a child’s sarcophagus before wandering down the hallway to see the neoclassic “Portrait of a Woman in a Riding Costume.”

Sculptures, masks, shrines and vases from a wide-range of cultures sit atop shelves, from ancient to modern times. There’s the 11th-century B.C. Chinese vessel and the Dale Chihuly blown glass sculpture.

The museum draws temporary exhibitions from pieces already in its permanent collection or borrows from other institutions or private individuals.

It has three exhibitions on display: Daumier’s Paris: Life in the Nineteenth-Century City, Ancient Glass from the Permanent Collection and South Asian Sculpture.

Honore Daumier was a lithographer and often caricatured the elite of Paris society. Featured in three installments, the exhibit has a cartoon-quality to it and is fun even for the littlest eyes in the family.

To keep children from being overwhelmed, the museum offers guidebooks, games, special flashlight tours and other fun tips and tools to keep their attention.

Questions are also a great way to make the experience personal and engaging. By allowing the child to take their time to look, ask questions and discuss the art, it makes the trip unique for them.

If children are in your group, the museum recommends keeping the gallery visit focused to a handful of objects.

The mind will stay sharp, little feet won’t get tired, and even the littlest visitor won’t get museum feet, which is caused by standing or walking through the galleries too long, trying to take in as many exhibits as possible.

If a roomful of priceless artifacts is a little concerning for your youngster, give them a taste of the museum at one of the children’s sessions.

At least once a month, the museum offers children in grades 1-8 to be thrown headfirst into the arts. The next session is Glass with Class on Feb. 3. It’s designed for them to experience the latest exhibit on their level.

In its second season, the museum has a film series inspired by one of the special exhibitions on view. Upcoming films include “Portrait of a Jennie,” “Roman Holiday” and “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” special for the Art in Bloom exhibit.

Films are free, open to the public and are scheduled most Thursdays.

In early February, the museum will open a new exhibition, “Before
Columbus: Iconography in the Ancient Americas.” Featuring ceramics, textiles, featherwork and objects of stone, metal and shell, the exhibit will highlight the unique artistic traditions of the pre-Columbian Americas.

Admission is free and open to the public. Guided tours are available for groups of 10 or more, if scheduled two weeks or more in advance.

The Museum of Art and Archaeology is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It is closed Mondays and all university-observed holidays.

For more information, call the museum at 573-882-3591. On the Net: http://maa.missouri.edu

Contact this reporter at deannaw@lakesunleader.com

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